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8 Tiny Changes That Can Yield Huge Results

If you dwell on how long the race is, you might not even get off the couch. But if, instead, you focus on putting one foot in front of the other and running one mile, and then two miles, and so on, suddenly a marathon doesn’t seem quite as intimidating.

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Minor changes that you make right now can have a major impact on your long-term financial security, according to Stephany Kirkpatrick, senior director of financial planning and a Certified Financial Planner™at LearnVest Planning Services. Below, she shares eight quick and easy tips that can help you slowly and steadily stash away cash—and we profile real people who’ve put them to the test, much to the benefit of their bottom lines.

Erica Zidel

1. Open a separate savings account: Simply put, you want to keep your checking account and savings account at two different banks.

Erica Zidel, 31, of Boston, Mass., who runs the babysitting startup SittingAround.com, says that this is the single best thing she’s done to save money. “I kind of forget that I have the savings account, so I’m not tempted to dip into it,” she says. “Since doing this five years ago, my savings have grown 400%.”

Kirkpatrick agrees that the out-of-sight/out-of-mind mentality is helpful—plus, it usually takes two to three days to access money from a separate savings account, so you probably can’t spend it as impulsively.

2. Set up an automated transfer: It’s easy to promise yourself that you’re going to transfer a certain amount of money into savings each week or month, but following through takes an awful lot of time, energy and discipline. Take the process out of your own hands by either asking your company to regularly deposit a portion of your paycheck directly into your savings account (that’s ideal, says Kirkpatrick, because you never even see the money) or asking your bank to regularly transfer a certain amount of money from your checking account to your savings account.

“My husband and I set up an automatic transfer with our bank between our checking and savings accounts, ” explains Kendal Perez, a 28-year-old marketing manager at Kinoli Incorporated in Fort Collins, Colo. “Each week, $50 is transferred, and we don’t typically miss it. That has helped us build an emergency fund and cover costs like car insurance and vehicle registration.” And do it frequently: “If you transfer from checking to savings, I recommend weekly transfers, because they keep your checking account more level. You won’t feel a huge dip once a month,” says Kirkpatrick.

I’ll be so happy when you make a LearnVest app for Android! For now, I’m having to use another site’s app. *sigh*

officelife

Is putting money into a savings account, even an online one, really the best advice? With inflation rates projected to 1.9% in 2014, 2.1% in 2015, you are losing money by holding it in savings. There’s got to be some better advice out there than that…

Julie R

I am soooooo disappointed that this article neglected to mention that you must know what your fees are when investing and get them as low as possible. Some investment companies charge as high as 2% and others charge a mere 0.25% or less. Over the course of 20 years or more, that can had up to HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS (yes, more than $100,000) of additional income for retirement!! Isn’t that worth mentioning?? I think so!!

T

Re #7: in addition to setting up reminders, see if you can change the due dates on all of your bills so they are paid around the same time (either first 15th or 30th of month). That way, you don’t have to keep track of shifting due dates, just one.

jls5smith

Is it just me or is everyone else’s page flashing so it is hard to read? This is ridiculous. I say a good investing tip is don’t read a constantly flashing website that will cause you eyestrain leading to health problems down the road. I’m done here.

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LearnVest Planning Services is a registered investment adviser and subsidiary of LearnVest, Inc. that provides financial plans for its clients. Information shown is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended as investment advice. Please consult a financial adviser for advice specific to your financial situation. LearnVest Planning Services and any third-parties listed, discussed, identified or otherwise appearing herein are separate and unaffiliated and are not responsible for each other’s products, services or policies.